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Interview with Carole Schutter

Today we have a special guest on Musings That Matter, screenwriter Carole Schutter, author of the controversial movie and novel, SEPTEMBER DAWN.

Let me make a disclaimer upfront here that I have not seen the film nor read the novel, so I cannot personally comment on either of them. This interview, therefore, does not constitute my endorsement of the movie or the book.
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MaryAnn:
Carole, welcome to Musings that Matter. :) We are happy to have you with us. You've said that you were born with a dream to write and that it took you "over half a century" to fulfill your dream. Tell us a little about your journey.

Carole:
My journey began at the age of 5 when I “wrote” my first story illustrated with stick characters. My siblings remember me making up fairy tales at bedtime every night.

I’ve always loved books and movies, and there wasn’t a time when I didn’t want to write. I wrote a novel at thirteen, then one my senior year in college. However, while on my honeymoon, our house burned down along with everything I had written since I was a little girl. To me, that was my biggest loss, along with my pictures.

I then wrote another book in my late twenties. Not knowing the process, I sent a thousand-page unsolicited manuscript to the biggest agent at the time, Scott Meredith. He actually wrote a letter telling me that his board had a difficult time turning it down, but even James Michener would have a tough time selling a first-time novel of a thousand pages. They suggested I submit a 250-page novel and after I had one published, it would be easier to get the second one published.

Well, I put that letter aside and forgot about it. For the next twenty years, I had an incredible life and lifestyle. I lived in mansions with staffs of servants, had vacation homes, and became a socialite. I forgot about writing, my life was too full.

But tragedy after tragedy occurred. My fairytale life turned into an absolute nightmare. Midway between, I returned to the faith of my childhood and became born-again again. It was a good thing because honestly, if it weren’t for the Lord and my family, I would have killed myself. God held the broken pieces of my life together.

MaryAnn:
You are known as the author of the novelization of the controversial film, September Dawn, the story of the first act of religious terrorism in the United States that, interestingly, occurred on another September 11th, back in 1857. September Dawn was recently released in movie theatres across the country and will come out in DVD in January. How did you develop an interest in this controversial story, and how did you come to write the novel version? Also, since a novel usually precedes the film version, did this reversal in sequence affect your writing and, if so, how?

Carole:
I was driving in the Colorado countryside thinking about how I hadn’t achieved my dream of being a writer, when suddenly, in my mind’s eye, I saw a pioneer girl standing in the middle of a field surrounded by mountains. Actually, I was passing by an area and envisioned the girl standing there.

A story played in my head and I knew it had to be a movie. Well, the only problem was, I didn’t know how to write a screenplay and didn’t even know what one looked like. I ignored my vision.

But God is persistent. I couldn’t get the story out of my head. And, I felt like God wanted me to write a screenplay. So, I decided to research the wagon train trails on the Internet and I found the story of the Mountain Meadow Massacre. I was astonished. It was my “made-up” story except it was true. Except for the Romeo and Juliet part.

In any case, I obeyed God, asked a screenwriter friend of mine to lend me a screenplay so I could see what one looked like, and attempted to write. I took it to my good friend Chris Cain who specialized in western movies and he was intrigued. But he did tell me I had to buy a program called Final Draft to make it look like a screenplay.

In any case, that is how we started writing it together. We did voluminous research on the subject and I thought it was a shame to throw out two years of research so I wrote a book. Besides, I wanted to flesh out the characters, their motivation, and the historical aspects more. After all, there is only so much you can put into a movie.

MaryAnn:
What experiences have you had—both pleasant and unpleasant—since the movie’s release?

Carole:
We had great reviews and horrible reviews. I got a lot of nasty email. The thing that hurt the most was that in the bad reviews that were cookie cutter, by the way, is that we were called historically incorrect, Mormon bashers, anti-Mormon and ham fisted. I found it amazing that movie reviewers were suddenly history experts. I, myself, was a history buff who almost majored in history and I had never heard about the Mountain Meadow Massacre before I started researching it. '

Part of my research indicated that it was kept a big secret. So it was interesting that all these movie reviewers were convinced we were historically incorrect. What took us two years of intense research, they somehow all knew was wrong.

In subsequent interviews I explained that the point was not to bash. It was to present an accurate historical event that almost no one knew about in order to present the fact that terrorists are not born, they are created out of religious excess and fanaticism, and that they could be the boy next door. George Santayana famously said “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

On the other hand, the point of the book was forgiveness. That we are to forgive the way God forgives, absolutely. That if we can learn to forgive, there would be no vengeance or blood atonement. Except for one review that sounded exactly like the movie reviews, my book has received wonderful reviews.

Christians love it as do non Christians. The best email I ever received was from a descendent of one of the perpetrators, who said, “You have shown me what it is to be a Christian.” This person spent forty years researching the Mountain Meadow Massacre and wrote his own book on it, White Flag, America’s First 9/11.

His name is Wayne Capurro. He told me that he found my book and the movie very accurate. And this is someone whose great great grandfather was the Bishop of Cedar City, the person whom the role Jon Voight plays was based on! Ironically, a few other descendants of the perpetrators have also emailed me their support of the story. Of course the descendants of the victims are really behind us.

MaryAnn:
Is the love story between Jonathan and Emily in the movie based on historical fact, or was it added for plotting purposes?

Carole:
It was added. Emily is the girl I saw in my vision. Chris thought it was a great idea because it humanized a horrific story. In my first script, the love story had a very small place.

MaryAnn:
When and how was the truth about this horrendous massacre finally discovered?

Carole:
The majority of the wagon train was made up of three families. Senator Mitchell of Arkansas had almost his entire family wiped out by the massacre. Rumors were afloat that the youngest children were spared and were being raised by Mormons.

Senator Mitchell wanted his grandchildren back if they were still alive. So he wouldn’t give up the fight to find them. After two years, the children who were all under 8 at the time were all returned to their families in Arkansas. Only one girl was never returned and the rumor was that she stayed with a Mormon family.

For twenty years, the LDS church tried to cover up the crime, insisting that the Indians did it. After intense pressure from the Federal Government, the LDS church scapegoated one man, John D. Lee, to take the blame. He was the only man executed for the crime, twenty years after it happened. One of the last things he said was “I studied to make Brigham Young’s will my pleasure for thirty years. See, now, what I have come to this day! I have been sacrificed in a cowardly, dastardly manner.”

One historian later wrote that it was very interesting how an all Mormon jury could find that one man killed 120 men, women, and children by himself.

MaryAnn:
You grew up in Hawaii and graduated from the University of Hawaii with a degree in Psychology. How has your background impacted your writing?

Carole:
I think of my characters as real people and try to understand what motivates them, what kind of background they had to make them the people that they are. You see, in screenwriting, one cannot show as much as you can in a book. Therefore, you have to flesh out the characters in your mind. In a book, you can go into their past in depth and show them how they came to be the kind of people they are. How life experiences shaped their thinking. Psychology makes you consider the past in evaluating the present.

MaryAnn:
Carole, you've said that you've been "in heaven" and "in hell" and that your faith is your "most precious possession"? Would you elaborate on this for our readers?

Carole:
First of all, I grew up in your normal dysfunctional family. I created a fairytale world because I couldn’t handle my childhood. Then, because I prayed with such faith as a child, my fairytale became true and God blessed me with everything I ever dreamed of even though by then, I wasn’t a Christian.

Then my fairytale world exploded into a nightmare and all I had to sustain me was my faith. If it weren’t for God, I truly would have killed myself. I was that fragile. But God strengthened me and gave me hope when I felt hopeless and helpless.

I became absolutely dependent on the Lord. Once I had everything materialistically. That is why I can truly say that the extravagant, unbelievable lifestyle I once had is nothing comparing to knowing and loving Jesus. When I was the richest, I had an emptiness inside of me that nothing could fill. Then in my deepest, darkest hours, the Lord filled me with light and hope. That is why my faith in Him is my most precious possession.

MaryAnn:
What project or projects are you working on now?

Carole:
I have optioned a new movie we hope to go into production with next year. It is a wonderful family/adventure/romance movie based on a real historical character. I have entitled it “The Pirate Princess,” based on the life of Granuaile O’Malley, the pirate queen of Ireland. It is the pirate princess because it is about her life as a child and a teenager.

I am also working on a screenplay based on one of the books of the Bible. It’s a surprise and that particular book has never been made into a movie but I was inspired by God to do it. I asked Him what story in the Bible I should do a screenplay on and when the answer came I was surprised. I didn’t think it was such a hot idea. But, as I delved into it, Father knows best, it is a wonderful story!

I am rewriting that thousand page opus which is a historical family saga about three generations of three families in Hawaii. It is about Korean, Japanese, and Irish families and how their lives intertwine. It is set amidst the Great Depression, WWII and the Vietnam war.

I have so many screenplay ideas, I hardly have the time to concentrate on them all but I have started them.

MaryAnn:
What do you like to do for enjoyment?

Carole:
I ski and hike with my Labrador Maxi. I love to travel to foreign places, and of course, I love to read.

MaryAnn:
What writing advice would you like to leave with our readers?

Carole:
Never give up. If God puts a dream into your heart, don’t let the enemy’s darts stop you. Keep praying, keep believing, because God can supernaturally open the doors. And remember, everything is the story.

MaryAnn:
Carole, thank you so very much for taking the time from your busy schedule to be with us today. It’s been great getting to know you. On behalf of all of our Musers Who Matter, I pray God’s blessings upon you as you continue to fulfill His great call on your life.

Carole:
Thank you. Writers are very important in the spreading of the Gospel. We all spread it in different ways. Some of us are very forward in our Christianity, others will write stories that never say a word about Jesus but the message is clear. Chronicles of Narnia comes to mind. The written word endures, so take it as a challenge and a responsibility.

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Copyright 2007 by Musings That Matter. All rights reserved. This blog entry may NOT be reproduced, reprinted, or published in any form whatsoever without the written permission of Dr. MaryAnn Diorio. You may, however, forward it to others, but please do so IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your cooperation.

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